Arena Profile: Josh Block

Josh Block is a veteran communications, foreign policy and political strategist who has been involved in national politics and policy for over twenty years. Shortly after 9/11, Block joined the senior staff of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), where he has been the group’s Spokesman and Director of Strategic Communications. A former Clinton Administration official and spokesman for the State Department’s U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Block got his start on Capitol Hill in the office of Senator Edward M. Kennedy. A Spokesman for the Clinton/Gore and Gore/Lieberman presidential campaigns, the 1996 Presidential Inaugural Committee, the Ohio Democratic Party and several House and Senate races, Block was also the founder of Direct/IMPACT, a boutique communications firm that specialized in politics and international issues, where his clients included the United Nation’s World Health Organization, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency and several high-profile political and advocacy campaigns. Last August, Block was included by Foreign Policy Magazine in the Twitterati 100, the top 100 Foreign Policy authorities on twitter, @JoshBlockDC, and he was recently named a Senior Fellow at the Progressive Policy Institute. Block also worked in the newsrooms of three top-five market TV stations in Boston and San Francisco and hosted a radio talk show in Boston.

Josh Block's Recent Discussions

Staunching the WikiLeaks bleeding?

One of the most interesting overall themes is the restraint seen to typify the Israelis on Iran, in contrast to the typical Brzezinski, Scowcroft, Walt/Mearsheimer, Glenn Greenwald-neoprogressive, netroots claims Israel is trying to prod us to fight and bomb Iran for them.

In the end, one of the most obvious take-aways from these WikiLeaks documents is devastating to the whole Left/Realist narrative about Israeli manipulation. The Israelis come off as cool customers, while the Arabs are the ones freaking out, justifiably many would argue, and literally demanding the U.S. bomb the Iranian nuclear program.

WikiLeaks harm: Severe or marginal?

One of the most interesting overall themes is the restraint seen to typify the Israelis on Iran, in contrast to the typical Brzezinski, Scowcroft, Walt/Mearsheimer, Glenn Greenwald-Neo-progresive, netroots claims Israel is trying to prod us to fight and bomb Iran for them.

In the end, one of the most obvious take-aways from these WikiLeaks documents is devastating to the whole Left/Realist narrative about Israeli manipulation. The Israelis come off as cool customers, while the Arabs are the ones freaking out, justifiably many would argue, and literally demanding the U.S. bomb the Iranian nuclear program.

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The Arena is a cross-party, cross-discipline forum for intelligent and lively conversation about political and policy issues. Contributors have been selected by POLITICO staff and editors. David Mark, Arena's moderator, is a Senior Editor at POLITICO. Each morning, POLITICO sends a question based on that day's news to all contributors.